Lockerbie. Scotland.December 21, 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members. Large sections of the plane crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland, killing an additional 11 people on the ground.

December 21, 1988: Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members. Large sections of the plane crashed into Lockerbie, Scotland, killing an additional 11 people on the ground.

Exhibitions

Pan Am's level of service faltered in the 1970s, and the airline began to lose passengers. To gain a domestic network, it bought National Airlines in 1980, but the merger proved costly. The airline began selling its assets, including its lucrative Pacific routes and the famous Pan Am Building in New York. The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 dealt a further blow. America's leading international carrier since 1928, Pan American ceased flying in December 1991.

On December 22, 1992, Libya witnessed the worst aviation disaster in its history when, six minutes before landing, Flight 1103 from Benghazi to Tripoli plummeted 1,000 metres in just 13 seconds. All 157 people aboard were killed. It was exactly four years and one day after the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland.